


Heart Larceny

by Thatgirlwiththatpen



Category: Ocean's 8 (2018), Ocean's Eleven Trilogy (Movies)
Genre: Angst, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Canon Compliant, Debbie and Lou are endgame, F/F, Fluff, Heist Wives, Hurt/Comfort, Not Actually Unrequited Love, So Married, it starts out with angst but we'll get there, otp: baby i don't have a diamond yet, really i promise, takes place during the movie
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-07-31
Updated: 2018-08-01
Packaged: 2019-06-19 12:00:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,866
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15509418
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Thatgirlwiththatpen/pseuds/Thatgirlwiththatpen
Summary: “It's not about thejob, Deborah.”“Then what is it about?” The question was a whisper on Debbie's lips, almost as if she was afraid to ask it.“Don't make me do this,” Lou shook her head firmly, “You know damn well what it is about.”“I paid for that too,” Debbie eventually said, her voice shaking ever so slightly.“Yeah, well, so did I."





	1. Chapter 1

“Debbie,” Lou mumbled against Debbie's insistent lips, her hands coming up to gently push at her shoulders. 

Debbie merely hummed as she pressed her body more firmly against Lou's, her lips now trailing kisses down her neck. For a second, Lou allowed herself to get lost in the feeling, the sensation of Debbie's lips on her skin, the heat of her body against hers, the smell of familiar perfume surrounding her. It made her dizzy. God, how she had missed this. When she felt Debbie's hands teasingly trailing along the top of her pants, a wave of reality washed over Lou and she moved her neck away from Debbie's lips. Immediately, she could feel Debbie's eyes on her, watching her, studying her. But she couldn't look at her. She kept her eyes trained firmly on the wall behind Debbie, trying to regain control of her breathing. 

“Lou?”

“We can't do this,” Lou whispered, hating herself for how small her voice sounded. For all the swagger and cool she oozed in everything she did, it meant nothing the second Debbie was involved. She was the one person who could strip all of her walls and barriers away with a simple look, a touch, a whisper of her name on her lips. And as much as Lou wanted this, wanted it with every fiber of her being, she couldn't let this happen. Not again. Not after last time. 

Debbie tilted her head to the side and fixed Lou with a stare that was so intense, it almost made Lou's determination crumble. Almost. 

“Come on, Lou,” Debbie leaned in close, her breath ghosting over Lou's face.

Lou swallowed hard. It wasn't an easy task, saying no to Debbie Ocean. And while she had said yes to meeting her again, yes to welcoming her into her home again, yes to being her partner-in-crime again, she couldn't say yes to this. She couldn't get her heart involved again. Which was ironic, really, because when was her heart ever not involved when it came to Debbie. But that was her problem, her stupid problem that would never have a solution because there simply wasn't. She had tried, really tried. When Debbie had left her to run off with Claude Becker, when Debbie had been locked up, the five years, eight months and twelve days Debbie had been gone. But no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't not love her. 

And that was precisely why she couldn't allow this to happen. She couldn't let Debbie see that her heart was on the line. She couldn't be Debbie's “I just got out of prison and wanna live a little”-fuck. She couldn't be Debbie's casual fuck buddy, period. 

“We can't,” Lou repeated, a little clearer, surer this time.

“We can't or,” Debbie trailed a finger down Lou's arm, “we shouldn't?”

“Can't.”

Debbie pulled away a little to study Lou's face closely. “What is with you?”

Lou averted her gaze, but didn't answer. 

“Did you find someone else while I was,” Debbie started, but trailed off. 

A humorless laugh escaped Lou. Someone else. How could Debbie stand there and have the audacity to ask whether there had been someone else? How could Debbie, after all these years, after everything that had happened, still not know that Lou was desperately, madly and all-consumingly in love with her? 

“No, Debbie,” Lou brought out through gritted teeth, “that would be your specialty.”

She regretted the words the second they rolled off her tongue and even more so when she saw the look of hurt flash across Debbie's face. _Shit._

She reached out to touch Debbie's arm, but she flinched away. 

“Debbie, please,” she begged. 

“Look, I get it, I fucked up and after almost six years, you're still mad,” Debbie threw her hands up in defeat, “But really, Lou? I don't know what else to do. I paid for my mistake. I went to fucking prison.” 

And God, Debbie really didn't seem to have gotten the point. 

“It's not about,” Lou bit her tongue to prevent more words from spilling out. She couldn't have this conversation with Debbie. Not now. Maybe not ever. 

But of course Debbie picked up on it. “What is it not about?” 

And okay, okay. They were doing this now? Well, Lou could play that game. 

She looked at Debbie for a long moment, then, “It's not about the _job_ , Deborah.” _Never has been._

She watched a series of emotions cross Debbie's face, from confusion to realization, guilt, regret. Or maybe Lou just liked to believe that was what it was. Maybe Debbie had not realized after all. 

“Then what is it about?” The question was a whisper on Debbie's lips, almost as if she was afraid to ask it. 

“Don't make me do this,” Lou shook her head firmly, “You know damn well what it is about.”

Debbie's eyes locked on Lou's and for a moment, Lou forgot how to breathe, the intensity in Debbie's gaze taking her breath away. The silence between them seemed to stretch on forever, but Lou was determined to not be the first to break it. And so she forced herself to wait for Debbie to say something, _anything_. 

“I paid for that too,” Debbie eventually said, her voice shaking ever so slightly. 

Anyone else might not have picked up on the slight waver in her voice, but Lou wasn't anyone else. She _knew_ Debbie. 

She not only knew Debbie, but she also knew exactly what this meant. That Debbie had realized what it was about. Not the job. Never about the job. 

“Yeah, well, so did I,” Lou couldn't help but say. 

Debbie averted her gaze, taking a deep breath, then looked back at Lou. “I know.”

“Then why,” Lou started, but she didn't finish her question, just left it hanging in the air between them. 

“Old habits?” Debbie forced out a laugh. 

“Deborah,” Lou warned. 

“Louise.”

Lou rolled her eyes. Great. Back at square one. For a second there she had thought that this could be it. The moment they finally talked about this thing between them. The moment she would finally get Debbie to _see_ , to understand that it had always been more than a casual thing for Lou. That she had always been so in love with her that it physically hurt. But apparently not. Five years, eight months and twelve days didn't change everything after all. 

She moved from her spot between Debbie's body and the wall and made her way into her bedroom, slamming the door behind her. She crossed the room quickly, coming to stand in front of her closet, shuffling through her clothes. Her movements got more and more erratic until she eventually couldn't hold it in anymore. A sob escaped her throat and she pressed her hand to her mouth, trying to keep it down, not wanting Debbie to hear, to know. 

Outside, Debbie sat with her back against the door to Lou's bedroom and listened to the muffled sobs on the other side of the door as tears ran down her own face. She wanted so desperately to go in and hold Lou in her arms, to tell her that it would all be okay. But she couldn't do that. It wasn't her place. She had fucked up. Not just with the job, but with _Lou_. She was no fool. She knew exactly that their casual thing had never been a casual thing, neither to Lou nor to herself. But at the time, she had gotten scared. And as much as she wanted it, craved it, she didn't deserve the unconditional love Lou had so willingly presented to her on a silver platter time and time again. And so she had left, had tried to spare Lou the inevitable heartbreak and pain. What she hadn't realized until later was that in her attempt to do that, she had managed to break both of them. 

Five years, eight months and twelve days she had spent not only planning the heist of a century, but also trying to come up with ways to make it up to Lou. And for some stupid reason, she had thought that falling back into old habits of casual sex would be the way. It wasn't. Of course it wasn't. Not when it had never been casual to begin with. Not when they had both wanted more to begin with. Not when Lou deserved so much better. And now, here they were. Just hours after Debbie had barged back into Lou's life, she had managed to hurt her yet again. 

But as she listened to Lou's stifled sobs on the other side of the door, Debbie vowed to herself that she would make this right. She would fix this.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My second ever Debbie/Lou fic (also second ever F/F fic), so I hope you don't hate it. (Also I didn't write fanfiction in ages and then these two happened and now I can't stop?) The plan is to add another chapter or perhaps more, if you're interested of course.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Debbie and Lou talk on the beach after Lou finds out about Claude Becker's involvement in the job..

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for the positive response to the first chapter!! Here's the second one :)

_You do not run a job in a job._

_Why do you do this?_

_You frame him, I walk._

_This is just like last time._

Debbie was taken aback by the tears pooling in Lou's eyes. Her eyes were shining dangerously, like her tears would spill over any second. And God, Debbie couldn't take that, couldn't take that she was the cause of this _again_. 

And yes, maybe it had been stupid to add Claude Becker to the plan. Maybe it had been stupid to go behind Lou's back with it. But she had just been trying to protect her. Protect her from this entire shitty situation. The one thing she had tried to do ever since it started. Ever since he had put her behind bars. 

“Lou, please,” Debbie tried again, reaching out to her partner.

Lou flinched back, almost as if she was afraid of Debbie's touch, afraid of Debbie. 

“We need it to be someone,” Debbie tried the approach of logic then. 

“They won't stop looking until they find someone and he's,” she trailed off, begging Lou with her eyes to just _understand_. 

“He's what, Debbie?”

The fire in Lou's eyes told Debbie everything Lou's words didn't. That this wasn't about the job, that it was about so much more. Lou wasn't asking why she was putting Claude in the job as a scapegoat. She was asking why any of this had happened in the first place. It took Debbie right back to their heated argument almost six years ago when Lou had screamed those exact words at her, had demanded an answer that Debbie was unable to provide. 

An answer that Debbie was scared to provide. 

“We don't pin shit on innocent people, Lou, that's not who we are,” Debbie found herself saying, “And he's not innocent.”

And God, why couldn't she just let the stupid job go? Why couldn't she just answer Lou's real question? Surely it couldn't be that hard. If she was able to pull off one insanely complicated job after another, surely she should be able to just tell the person who mattered most in this world exactly how she felt. 

“He put you in jail, I know,” Lou took a measured step closer to her, her eyes reflecting a mixture of anger and hurt, “And I have no idea what that's like.”

Debbie wanted to scream in frustration. Of fucking course Lou would use her own words against her. She knew the statement had been stupid the second it had left her lips. She didn't need Lou to rub it in her face. 

“No, you don't,” Debbie said, her voice quiet.

She knew it wasn't the right thing to say. What she didn't expect was the pain spreading across Lou's face, every inch of her face, like it was all-consuming. 

“I know _exactly_ what it's like,” Lou spat, “I might not have been there, but I was here. I know what you being in there was like.”

And oh- oh. 

It wasn't about life on the inside. 

It was about life without each other. 

Debbie felt her heart squeeze painfully, like someone had wrapped an iron fist around it and wouldn't let go. And for a second it was hard to breathe. When she looked up in Lou's eyes, she saw a storm raging there too. Why couldn't they just stop hurting each other every damn time? 

Debbie reached out again and this time, Lou didn't flinch away. Debbie took both of her hands in hers and squeezed gently. 

“I am so sorry,” she whispered, her eyes locked on Lou's, hoping her partner would see the truth there. 

“About the job or,” Lou asked, leaving the second part of the question hanging in the air between them. 

An unspoken sentiment. Like a guillotine over their heads. 

Debbie took a careful, measured breath. _Don't be a coward, Ocean._

Then, “Not about the job.”

She watched as Lou let out a breath and her shoulders slumped, like the weight she had been carrying for years had been lifted off of them with four simple words. 

And Debbie saw the opportunity. 

_Now or never._

“I really am sorry, Lou,” she squeezed her hands again, more firmly this time. “I should have never left you.”

She watched Lou's face closely and thus didn't miss the tears threatening to spill over yet again. 

It was quiet for a long moment, the only sound being the waves of the river crashing against the rocks. It would have been soothing, had it not been for the still tense situation between them. 

Lou was the one to eventually break the silence, “Then why did you?”

It took Debbie a second longer to catch up, the sheer brokenness in Lou's voice distracting her momentarily. 

When she did, she felt as though one of the waves had crashed over her, pulling her under. She couldn't breathe, couldn't move, couldn't think. Lou deserved the truth, nothing less than the truth. And Debbie was the one who was supposed to always tell Lou the truth, always be her right hand, her confidant, her partner and best friend. But this truth? Debbie wasn't sure whether she was ready to tell Lou this truth, wasn't sure whether Lou would want to hear this truth. 

“Lou,” she whispered. 

Lou's eyes were boring into hers, begging for an answer. 

And when had Debbie ever been able to deny Lou. 

“I was scared.”

As soon as the admission rolled off her tongue, past her lips, Debbie's flight instinct kicked in. She averted her gaze quickly, looking anywhere but at Lou, scared that Lou would have figured out the meaning behind her words. Scared, above everything else, that Lou would figure it out and reject her. 

While the rejection during her first night at Lou's place had stung, Debbie had understood the reasoning. She had told herself that it was better this way. Lou deserved so much better and the least Debbie could do was make sure that Lou was aware that she was much more than just a random casual hook-up to Debbie. That, in fact, she was _everything_. 

She tried to pull her hands from Lou's, but Lou held on firmly and that was what ultimately made Debbie look back up at Lou. What she found in her eyes scared her more than anything had ever scared her before. Debbie Ocean didn't get scared. But this, right here, the longing hope in Lou's eyes, that scared her. Because she knew she wasn't good enough for Lou, knew she didn't deserve her in the slightest, knew that Lou deserved so much better. 

“You don't have to be scared,” Lou said, her voice so husky that it made Debbie weak in the knees. 

Her accent was more prominent, her voice alone enough to send shivers down Debbie's spine. Oh, the things this woman could do to her. 

“But you're mad,” Debbie said, but it came out as more of a question than a statement. 

Lou sighed deeply, “I was. Because I didn't understand. I kept thinking, where did we go wrong? What could I have done differently? What did I miss?”

Debbie stared at her in disbelief. All this time..Lou had thought _she_ had been at fault? 

“You,” Debbie swallowed hard against the growing lump in her throat, “You didn't do anything wrong.”

“Oh come on, Ocean,” Lou rolled her eyes, the first genuine laugh since they had stepped out onto the beach accompanying it. “You're not going to give me the old It's Not You It's Me speech, are you?” 

At that, Debbie pulled her hands from Lou's to playfully smack her shoulder. 

“Very funny, Lou,” she scolded, but her laugh betrayed her, ruining her act of mock seriousness. 

Lou shook her head, still laughing lowly, then reached out to squeeze Debbie's shoulder gently, just once. But once was enough to make Debbie's eyes snap up to meet Lou's. Her eyes were wide, questioning. 

But Lou merely gave her a soft smile, “Come on. We have a job to do.”

_Don't run a job in a job._

It dawned on Debbie then. That maybe it hadn't been just about Claude. That maybe it had been about _them_ too. Maybe Lou and her were on the same page after all. Maybe it just wasn't the right time to do it during the job. After the job, however..well, that was a different story.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I thought this was gonna be two chapters total, but then it kinda went beyond my control. So, I guess there will be a third chapter innnn case you're interested?   
> Comments? Questions? Prompts? Wanna rant about these two oblivious idiots? Go ahead, the comment box below is waiting to hear from you :)


End file.
